7.26.2013

In the prosecutions closing arguments for the trial of Bradley Manning there appears to be conflicting portrayals of Manning's character and abilities:

Bradley Manning purposely joined the Army and deployed to Iraq to use his extensive computer skills to disclose protected U.S. secrets

Versus:

[Chief Prosecutor Army Maj. Ashden Fein] described Assange as his cheerleader, urging him to provide more material, working with him to override secret passwords and other obstacles on classified documents. Eventually, Fein said, Manning came to embrace Assange's ideology against government secrecy.

So, Manning joined the service to betray secrets, yet didn't embrace the ideology of opposing government secrecy until after working with Assange? He possessed "extensive computer skills" yet needed guidance in obtaining many documents?

He was not naive and yet naively thought he could clear his tracks? He had extensive computer knowledge and still had these delusions? It's a possibility I guess, but it's worth considering the portrayal of Manning and what it says about the character of the prosecution as well.

On a related note: Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye, whom President Barack Obama once personally lobbied to have remain in jail, has been pardoned and released.

And: The Obama Administration has charged six whistleblowers with the Espionage Act - twice as many as had been charged in the entirety of US history.

And: A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that James Risen (two-time Pulitzer Prize winner) would receive no First Amendment protection safeguarding the confidentiality of his sources.

Smart People Say So

"What you risk reveals what you value." - Jeanette Winterson

“Nationalism is our form of incest, is our idolatry, is our insanity. 'Patriotism' is its cult. Love for one's country which is not part of one's love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship.” -Erich Fromm

"If you are afraid to be wrong, you will never have an original idea." - Sir Ken Robinson

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” - Stephen F. Roberts

"The noblest kind of retribution is not to become like your enemy." - Marcus Aurelius